The seven days Licht

1 7 days

1.1 monday
1.2 tuesday
1.3 wednesday
1.4 thursday
1.5 friday
1.6 saturday
1.7 sunday

the 7 days

there 7 operas, each named day of week, subject matter reflects attributes associated in traditional mythologies each day. these attributes in turn rest on 7 planets of antiquity (and associated deities) day-names derived (stockhausen 1989b, 152–53):

monday = moon
tuesday = mars
wednesday = mercury
thursday = jupiter
friday = venus
saturday = saturn
sunday = sun

stockhausen sought fashion subjects each opera through absorption in traditions of planet , immersion intuitive meaning of each day of week—meanings of people not aware (stockhausen 1989b, 176). cycle has neither beginning nor ending ; days of week, each opera leads next one, conflict of tuesday followed reconciliation of wednesday, , mystical union of sunday prepares way new life of monday. in way there neither end nor beginning week. eternal spiral (stockhausen 1989b, 156). each opera composed elaborated form of corresponding day-segment of superformula, made superimposing 1 or more complete lines superformula, compressed length of day-segment. these named day in question (e.g., mittwoch-formel.) separate acts , scenes involve further superimpositions of formula material. example, luzifers traum , first scene of samstag, has total of 5 layers (kohl 1990 , kohl 1993).

each day assigned principal (or exoteric ) colour, 1 or more secondary (or esoteric ) colours (stockhausen 1989b, 199–200).

monday

montag, composed between 1984 , 1988, dedicated eve. features orchestra synthesizers (called modern orchestra stockhausen), backing 21 performers (14 voices, 6 instruments , actor), adult , children s choirs. opera in 3 acts, framed greeting , farewell. (this framing applies, variation, each opera in cycle: greeting either in foyer of opera house or in auditorium, , farewell after performance, played either in auditorium or outside theater.) monday s exoteric colour bright green; esoteric colours opal , silver (stockhausen 1989b, 200). scenes , subscenes follows:

montags-gruß (monday s greeting)
act 1: evas erstgeburt (eve s first birth-giving)

scene 1: in hoffnung (expecting)
scene 2: heinzelmännchen
scene 3: geburts-arien (birth arias)
scene 4: knaben-geschrei (boys hullaballoo)
scene 5: luzifers zorn (lucifer s fury)
scene 6: das große geweine (the great weeping)


act 2: evas zweitgeburt (eve s second birth-giving)

scene 1: mädchenprozession (girls prozession)
scene 2: befruchtung mit klavierstück—wiedergeburt (conception piano piece—rebirth)
scene 3: evas lied (eve s song)


act 3: evas zauber (eve s magic)

scene 1: botschaft (message)
scene 2: der kinderfänger (the pied piper) [literally, child-catcher ]
scene 3: entführung (abduction)


montags-abschied (monday s farewell)

photos of montag aus licht @ la scala, milan

tuesday

after having composed 3 solo operas (thursday, saturday , monday), stockhausen proceeded explore combinations of characters. dienstag day of conflict between michael , lucifer. after opening greeting, 2 acts follow: jahreslauf (course of years) , invasion-explosion mit abschied (invasion-explosion farewell). dienstag opera 17 performers (three solo voices, ten solo instrumentalists, , 4 dancer-mimes), actors, mimes, choir, modern orchestra (29 32 instruments including synthesizers) and, in second act, electronic music (titled oktophonie ) projected in 8 channels, loudspeakers arranged @ corners of cube shape around audience. since layer, taped octophonic electronic music may heard itself. tuesday s colour red (stockhausen 1989b, 200). opera falls following sections , subsections:

dienstags-gruß, nr. 60 (1987–88)

willkommen
friedens-gruß


act 1: jahreslauf (course of years), nr. 47 (1977/1991)
act 2: invasion-explosion mit abschied (invasion-explosion farewell), nr. 61 (1990–91)

erste luftabwehr (first air-defense)
erste invasion (first invasion)
zweite luftabwehr (second air-defense)
zweite invasion (second invasion)
pietà
dritte invasion (third invasion)
jenseits (beyond)
synthi-fou
abschied (farewell)

photos of dienstag aus licht @ leipzig opera

wednesday

mittwoch characterized cooperation of eve, michael , lucifer. composed between 1992 , 1998, opera consists of 4 scenes: welt-parlament (world parliament), orchester-finalisten (orchestra finalists), helikopter-streichquartett (helicopter string quartet), , michaelion. third scene, has acquired celebrity, scored, name implies, 4 stringed instruments , 4 helicopters, latter used both performatic device , sound source. greeting mittwoch electronic part of scene 4; farewell electronic music scene 2. latter, electronic music act 2 of dienstag, projected octophonically through speakers arranged @ corners of cube surrounding audience. wednesday s colour bright yellow (stockhausen 1989b, 200). main divisions , subdivisions are:

mittwochs-gruß
scene 1: welt-parlament
scene 2: orchester-finalisten

oboe
violoncello
klarinette
fagott
violine
tuba
flöte
posaune
viola
trompete
kontrabaß
horn
orchester-tutti


scene 3: helikopter-streichquartett (1993)
scene 4: michaelion

präsidium
luzikamel

kakabel
shoe-shine serenade
taschen-trick (pocket trick)
kamel-tanz (camel dance)
stierkampf (bullfight)


operator

thinki
bassetsu trio (karussell) (carousel)
menschen, hört (raum-sextette) ( listen, people —space-sextet)




mittwochs-abschied

thursday

donnerstag opera 14 performers (three voices, 8 instrumentalists, 3 dancers) plus choir, orchestra, , tapes. though not first part of licht started, first opera in cycle completed, having been written between 1978 , 1980. thursday day of archangel michael, , story centered on character. opens in foyer greeting ensemble of brass , percussion, followed in theater 3 acts, , ends outside theater farewell , played surrounding rooftops 5 trumpeters. 16-channel tape composition unsichtbare chöre (invisible choirs, 1979) incorporated act 1, , again act 3, scene 1 (stockhausen 1989a, 204). stockhausen s klavierstück xii arrangement of act 1, scene 3 (stockhausen 1989a, 321), , number of other segments arranged composer separate performance. thursday s exoteric colour bright blue. made of following parts:

donnerstags-gruß (thursday s greeting)
act 1: michaels jugend (michael s youth; employs unsichtbare chöre)

scene 1: kindheit (childhood)
scene 2: mondeva (moon-eve)
scene 3: examen (examination)

erstes examen (first examination)
zweites examen (second examination)
drittes examen (third examination)




act 2: michaels reise um die erde

eingang und formel (entrance , formula)
erste station (first station): germany
zweite station (second station): new york
dritte station (third station): japan
vierte station (fourth station): bali
fünfte station (fifth station): india
sechste station (sixth station): central africa
siebte station (seventh station): jerusalem
mission

verspottung (derision)
kreuzigung (crucifixion)
himmelfahrt (ascension)




act 3: michaels heimkehr (michael s homecoming)

scene 1: festival (employs unsichtbare chöre)
scene 2: vision


donnerstags-abschied (thursday s farewell)

photos of michaels reise um die erde

friday

freitag, written between 1991 , 1994, portrays eve s temptation lucifer. whole divided 2 acts, , has novel structure: apart greeting , farewell, composed of 2 layers of scenes: ten real scenes live performers on stage , twelve sound scenes electronic transformations of familiar sounds, both performed simultaneously on third layer of abstract electronic music. complex production headed 5 acting musicians (soprano, baritone, bass, flute, basset horn) 12 couples of dancer-mimes, children s orchestra, children s choir, 12 choir singers, synthesizer player, electronic music sound scenes. friday s colour orange (stockhausen 1989b, 200). ten real scenes are:

photo of scene kinder-tutti @ leipzig opera

saturday

samstag opera 13 solo performers (one voice, ten instrumentalists, , 2 dancers) plus symphonic band (or symphony orchestra), ballet or mimes, , male choir organ. composed between 1981 , 1983. saturday lucifer s day; exoteric colour black (stockhausen 1989a, 200). opera opens samstags gruß 4 spatially separated brass ensembles percussion (bandur 1999), followed 4 scenes:

samstags-gruß (saturday s greeting)
scene 1: luzifers traum (lucifer s dream) (klavierstück xiii), bass voice , piano
scene 2: kathinkas gesang als luzifers requiem (kathinka s chant lucifer s requiem), flute , 6 percussionists
scene 3: luzifers tanz (lucifer s dance), symphony band (or orchestra), bass voice, solo piccolo, solo piccolo trumpet, solo dancer, stilt-dancer, , dancer-mimes

linker augenbrauentanz (left-eyebrow dance)
rechter augenbrauentanz (right-eyebrow dance)
linker augentanz (left-eye dance)
rechter augentanz (right-eye dance)
linker backentanz (left-cheek dance)
rechter backentanz (right-cheek dance)
nasenflügeltanz (wing-of-the-nose dance)
oberlippentanz (upper-lip dance)

protest


zungenspitzentanz (tip-of-the-tongue dance)
kinntanz (chin dance)


scene 4: luzifers abschied (lucifer s farewell), male choir, 7 trombones, , organ

photos of luzifers tanz

sunday

sonntag, written between 1998 , 2003, centered on mystical union of eve , michael, new life of monday produced (stockhausen 1989b, 156, 175). opera 5 scenes , farewell. absence of lucifer scene 1 explained stockhausen s description of accessory scene, called luziferium, intended performed simultaneously sonntag, in different place, symbolizing imprisonment of lucifer, away eve , michael; luziferium sketched never written (stockhausen 2001, 22–23; stockhausen 2003a, 8; solare , stockhausen 2003). scene 4 expands on multimedia nature of opera—with music, dance, action , scenery—by involving human sense: fragrances released toward audience. scene 5 2 scenes in one, , consists of 2 parts: hoch-zeiten 5 choirs , hoch-zeiten 5 orchestral groups. (these components performed simultaneously in 2 separate auditoriums. @ various points acoustical windows opened, through music other auditorium piped in through loudspeakers. scene performed twice. after interval, either choir , orchestra change halls, or divided audience does, in order each group of listeners may experience scene both perspectives.) farewell adaptation 5 synthesizers of choral part of hoch-zeiten, , exists in 2 further versions: 1 solo percussionist tape, strahlen; other klavierstück xix synthesizer , tape. opera falls following parts:

scene 1: lichter-wasser (sonntags-gruß) (lights-waters—sunday s greeting), soprano, tenor, , orchestra synthesizer
scene 2: engel-prozessionen (angel-processions), 7 choral groups
scene 3: licht-bilder (light-pictures), tenor, ring-modulated flute, basset horn, , ring-modulated trumpet
scene 4: düfte-zeichen (scents-signs), 7 solo voices, boy soprano, , synthesizer
scene 5: hoch-zeiten (weddings, literally: high-times), choir , orchestra
sonntags-abschied (sunday s farewell), 5 synthesizers